1. Technical Field
This invention relates to hand-signaling gloves and, more particularly, to an illuminable hand-signaling glove for displaying an intended user travel path.
2. Prior Art
While cycling on public roads, it is frequently desired to communicate with other pedestrians, drivers and cyclists on the road. In the absence of expensive and sophisticated equipment, such communication typically involves hand signals. But in order to convey a message in this manner, it is first necessary to get the other persons attention. This is frequently a problem if the other persons are not looking at the cyclist wishing to convey the message, or at least in their general direction, and this is particularly a problem in situations where visibility is limited, such as at nighttime. Cyclists have been known to place light reflectors on their bicycles and to wear reflective garments in order to increase their visibility. Although effective in their intended purposes, there are two major shortcomings of such reflective apparatuses. For one, they only become reflective when light strikes them at the correct angle, and secondly, they can not effectively be used by a person to indicate where they intend to turn.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,357 to Mead discloses a signaling glove that includes a body portion that is worn on a user's hand and at least one reflective surface mounted on the body portion. In some embodiments, the glove further includes a light source with a light-emitting unit adapted to illuminate the reflective surface. The light-emitting unit is preferably housed within a pocket formed at least in part by the reflective surface. When the light-emitting unit is housed within the pocket, the reflective surface includes a transparent or translucent region overlying the light. The reflective surface may be adjustably positionable on the body portion of the glove to enable a user to interchange the reflective surfaces and to orient the reflective surface to best fit the user's current signaling or other needs. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not designed for convenient use with all forms of self-guided transportation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,142 to Gyori discloses a illuminated glove that has an outside layer, an inside liner and a fibre-optic arrangement mounted there between. This fibre-optic arrangement comprises fibre-optic ribbons extending along the fingers of the glove under the outside layer. Portions of these ribbons are visible through openings in the outside layer. A light source is mounted at the base of the thumb. A power source including a battery and a pressure sensitive switch is mounted in the cuff of the glove. A plurality of optical fibres extends loosely over the back-of-the-hand portion and the hand-knuckle region of the glove between the light source and the fibre-optic ribbons. A slack or loose bend is provided in the plurality of optical fibres for reducing hand stiffness and fibre tension when the fingers of the glove are flexed. Preferably, the slack or the loose bend is an offset between and relative to the light source and the fingers. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not display a sequence of bright flashing lights.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,746 to Orellana discloses a glove apparatus for emitting light in an area around the hand of the user. The glove apparatus includes a body member comprising a perimeter wall. The perimeter wall defines an interior space of the body member. The interior space of the body member is designed for selectively receiving the hand of the user. A plurality of light emitting assemblies is positioned in the perimeter wall of the body member. Each of the light emitting assemblies is designed for emitting light to illuminate an area around the hand of the user. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not conveniently include both glove and wristband versions.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The illuminable hand-signaling glove is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for displaying an intended user travel path. The device is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.